Meet the Team
by MarineAurora
Summary: Backstory to Delta Emerald! Follow Aurora as she meets and captures the Pokémon that will make up her Team in Delta Emerald. It is now complete!
1. Enter Shuppet

Meeting the Team is a series featuring my OC Aurora as she meets and captures the members of the team she will use during my upcoming story.

Wulfric takes his adoptive nieces out on a trip to the Pokémon Village. After arriving Aurora gets a friend.

* * *

 **Mischievous Little Ghost, Enter Shuppet!**

It was snowing again. Aurora sighed heavily as she stuffed her hands into the pockets of her purple body warmer. She snuck a glance at her right where her best friend was playing with her Swablu. Suddenly feelings of jealousy rose at the sight the two were making. But she squashed the feeling quickly, not wanting to be jealous of the happy pair. Besides, she had encouraged Vivian to bond with the poor thing in the first place. Aurora then remembered something her Dad had said to her earlier this morning. After taking a quick look at her watch, she shouted at Vivian:

"Viv, uncle Wulfic is waiting for us at the Gym! We need to hurry!"

The blonde just looked at Aurora like she was saying nonsense. When Aurora had come to the Pokémon Center an hour ago to deliver a batch of Yache and Aspear berries to Vivian's mother, one of the nurses, Rory had said nothing about Wulfric. So she asked the other girl why the Gym Leader of Snowbelle would be waiting for them.

"Dad said that uncle Wulfric wanted to show us the Pokémon Village," Aurora replied with a grin, knowing that Vivian had wanted to see the Village for a long time now.

The blonde stood there frozen for a moment before she let out a cheer and raced away to tell her mother. She was back after a few minutes with a warm cape and her Swablu on her shoulder followed by her mother. Vivian's mom still had a few words to say to the girls:

"While the two of you are already old enough to have started your journey a while ago, I still want you to be careful and stay close to Wulfric, understood?" The girls in front of her nodded and waited seemingly patiently for the confirmation that Viv could come. Vivian's mother smiled and send them out on their way. As the girls raced away to the Gym, the nurse only could shake her head at their antics, a wide smile gracing her face.

* * *

The girls were running to the Gym at the fastest speed they could manage in the snow. Vivian was running in front of Aurora, her braid whipping behind her and Swablu flying on ahead. Aurora had to jump over a small hill the owner of the grocery store had made . Almost slipping upon landing, she did manage not to fall and raced after Vivian. The town's people could only shake their heads at the two girls running towards the Gym, smiling at the energy the two had.

Wulfric and Aurora's dad were standing outside the Gym talking about the upcoming week. Both men would be very busy since the Estelle Conference would start in two months and they were the closest Gym to the venue where the League was held every year. Suddenly a copper blonde missile crashed into her father making the fall to the ground. Aurora had managed to pull ahead a little when she'd seen her father standing with her uncle and thought to have a little fun with her dad. Her father had been a little disorientated but started laughing after he saw the face his daughter was sporting. Copper hair almost fell into wide teal eyes that were set into a heart shaped face that was flushed red from the cold temperature, on which a grin slowly formed. His daughter's best friend was sporting a similar face.

Wulfric could only smile when he saw his adopted nieces running through the snow; it was hard to miss Vivian's Swablu as she was covered in yellow gold feathers. However, it had been Aurora who had drawn his attention when he spotted the mischievous grin on her face. And true to form, she slammed right in her father without slowing down even in the slightest, bowling both of them right over. He gave a booming laugh as Vivian made her way to the trio in front of the Gym. The girl approached Wulfric and asked him if they were really going to the Pokémon Village. Wulfric looked down at the small, blonde girl who had a hopeful look in her brown eyes. Sensing that she was preparing a dose of the infamous puppy eyes that both of the girls were known for, he caved.

"Yes, Vivi. As soon as Aurora gets back on her feet, we will go to the Pokémon Village."

Vivian once again gave a cheer and rushed to the laughing father and daughter, who were now play fighting in the snow. It took little time to get Aurora ready and after saying their goodbyes to Aurora's father they were off.

* * *

Wulfric led the girls to the southern exit of Snowbelle. The girls were speaking quietly about how they envisioned the Village to be. Suddenly Aurora realized that they were going to what the locals called the Winding Woods.

"Uncle?" Aurora softly asked. Wulfric had heard her soft voice and turned around to face his nieces to find out that Aurora had stopped walking.

"Yes, Aurora, what is wrong?" Concern was visible on his face as Aurora was not the type to back out of something unless she had a good reason. Vivian didn't understand why they had stopped so suddenly and wanted to ask Aurora about it. Aurora then asked something that shocked her a little.

"We are going to the Winding Woods, aren't we?" Vivian then immediately remembered the warning they had been given all their lives.

"Never go in the Winding Woods; there are strong Pokémon, that could kill you live there." That was the warning that Vivian had gotten from her mother. While she didn't believe that the Pokémon in the forest would intentionally hurt them, there were some strong enough to do so.

Staring at the teal-eyed girl Wulfric had some explaining to do about what was going on.

"The Winding Woods is the only entrance way to the Village. The Pokémon in this forest are the protectors of the Village. As you both know the Village is a sanctuary to Pokémon who have fled for Trainers who have not taken proper care of their Pokémon or those who just want to live their lives in peace." The girls nodded at him showing that they understood this. He then explained further:

"The Pokémon who live in this forest help to protect the secret and will only let in the Trainers who they deem worthy."

"You must have been deemed worthy, right Uncle? Otherwise, you would have never found the Village in the first place." Aurora piped up. She then continued on:

"The forest Pokémon probably see you as an extra protector, with how often you go to the Village. And so if you deemed us worthy, they will let us pass, won't they?" Vivian had regained her normal color as Wulfric and Aurora were able to lay her fears to rest.

Smiling at the deduction skills that Aurora seemed to possess, Wulfric told the girls the last bit of the explanation.

"The Woods alone with its twists and turns possess a good security system. And with me and the forest Pokémon, there is little chance that unwanted strangers will wind up at the Pokémon Village. So stay at my side and nothing will attack you. I promise." The girls shared a look and then nodded to their unofficial uncle. Proud of the girls, a grinning uncle led the way to the Pokémon Village.

* * *

After half an hour walking through the forest, they finally arrived at what seemed the edge of the forest. Aurora and Vivian stepped out into the light after Wulfric waved them through. Vivian gave a small gasp and even Aurora was stunned at the sight before them; a wide field was all they could see. Filled with yellow and purple flowers, the valley stretched out in front of them. They could see Noctowls flying in the skies above their heads and Jigglypuffs playing in the flowers. They could see Poliwags jumping out of the river while several Lombres were resting in the sun on the riverbank. A Foongus was curled up next to a Gothorita as they were sleeping under the watchful eyes of their parents.

"So what do the two of you think of the village?" Wulfric's booming voice startled the girls.

"You know that you can go and take a closer look, don't you?" Wulfric asked, swiftly cutting off the girls' chance to answer him. Vivian immediately took off to the Jigglypuffs with Swablu following her closely. Aurora just shrugged and walked off slowly, making sure her movements would not disturb the Pokémon.

Aurora sat down on a rock set a little way off from where the Poliwags were jumping out of the river. As soon as the water Pokémon realized that they had an audience, they started to show off; spinning around, making front- and back-flips. Aurora was entranced by the lively Pokémon.

"Shup?" Suddenly something was next to her head and making noise. Aurora could not help but let out a startled yelp of surprise. She fell off the rock she had been sitting on after she lost her balance. The little Pokémon made a laughing like motion when she had fallen on the ground. As Aurora was rubbing her sore bottom, she started glaring at the Pokémon. She then asked the Pokémon if he found it funny that she had landed on her ass.

"Shup shup Shuppet." It was nodding in confirmation. Aurora sighed; it seemed that life had come to bite her in the ass. She then took a good look at the Pokémon that had startled her. It had a gray body, not unlike the ghost dolls that they would make on Halloween and big blue eyes and yellow pupils.

It took a few minutes but then she recognized it as a Shuppet. The Shuppet had apparently taken a liking to her as it was spinning around her head and ruffling through her hair. The girl waited for an opportune moment and then snatched the small Shuppet out of the air in front of her. Slowly she brought it in for a hug and laid her head on his. The Shuppet felt surprisingly soft. She giggled when the Shuppet used the point on its head to tickle her neck. She let it go from her embrace when it was wiggling to try and get out of her hug. Aurora was prepared to see the Shuppet go when it suddenly poked her. It then hovered around as it was staring expectantly at her. Aurora grinned and started to play tag with the Shuppet, with her apparently being 'it'.

The Shuppet and Aurora spend the afternoon playing together, even dragging Vivian and Swablu in their game of tag. The blonde had only one comment on the fact that Aurora had a ghost following her. "Only _you_ wouldn't mind being haunted."

* * *

Way too soon it was time to leave as they had to be home for dark. Wulfric had left to check the area for trouble after the girls had run off to play. As he was walking back to the entrance to the Village, he overheard Aurora talking.

"I'm sorry, Shuppet, but you can't come with us. You live here right? I'll be back soon to play again if I can convince uncle to take me here again."

"Shu." It seemed that the Shuppet had other ideas, as it rubbed its cheek lovingly against hers as it nestled itself in her neck.

Wulfric was stunned. How had Aurora managed to find a Shuppet? It didn't matter, he decided; what was important was that Aurora had found her first Pokémon. He laid a hand on Aurora's shoulder and waited for her to react.

Almost immediately the girl turned her head and Wulfric was taken aback by the sad eyes she sported. It seemed like Aurora wanted to take the Shuppet with her, but felt like she could not justify the reason.

"You know, we were waiting for you to befriend your first Pokémon, Rory. If Shuppet wants to go with you, why not let him?" Aurora's eyes grew brighter with the hope that her uncle was giving her.

"Really, Uncle? I can take Shuppet with me?" Wulfric just nodded. Vivian, who had been standing a little bit away to let Aurora say goodbye, ran up to her friend and almost hugged the life out of her. She was so happy for her friend.

In the end, it was a happy group that left the Village with one more member than when they came.


	2. Found Eevee

Thank you for making the time to read the second chapter of Meet the Team!

I also want to thank Danforth Kensington and PhantomGalaxy13 for taking the time to review.

Aurora and Vivian have finally started their long awaited Pokémon Trainer journey! After reaching Cyllage City, Aurora notices that something is missing.

* * *

 **Sly Little Fox; Found Eevee!**

The damn dust was everywhere. The last attacks that had been fired off had collided and then exploded outward to envelop the whole battlefield in dust. Aurora shouted at her Pokémon on the field:

"Shuppet! Can you hear me?!"

When the dust settled, one thing became clear: Shuppet was still floating in the air. Bruised and battered, but Shuppet was still conscious, unlike his opponent.

"Tyrunt is unable to continue. Shuppet wins the match!"

Aurora grinned as Vivian slapped her on the back for a job well done and for ruining her clothes.

"Aurora, you knew the attacks would cancel each other out and explode, didn't you?"

Accusing the shorter blonde, Vivian stood there with her hands on her hips, covered in the dust that had flared up. A guilty Aurora could only reply with: "Maybe, I did?". Vivian decided she couldn't stay mad at her best friend and laughed happily.

"Just don't do it the next time!"

Shuppet had quickly floated back to his trainer after it had become clear to him that his opponent wasn't going to get back up again. On the other side of the battlefield, Grant was staring at them with a look of disbelief. The Gym referee was snickering behind his hand at the stunned look on the face of the dark-skinned Gym Leader.

Grant could not believe that the girl with only a Shuppet had been able to outsmart and out move him to the point that she had taken out both of his Pokémon. He just sighed as he remembered the warning Wulfric had given him in regard to the girls that were celebrating in front of him. He really shouldn't have underestimated them. Especially when he had fought the other one yesterday, although she had more than one Pokémon.

After returning Tyrunt to his Poké ball, Grant walked to the girls. Upon reaching them, he pulled out a badge from his pocket.

"Aurora Lockwood of Snowbelle City."

Aurora stilled her movements, as she heard him speak, in favor of looking at Grant. Grant gave a small smile and presented her with the badge he held in his hand.

"You have proven that you will not give up even when faced with odds that are against your favor. However more important is that you have shown to be able to work with your Pokémon in a way that lets them excel. In an impressive show of teamwork with your Shuppet, you have proven yourself worthy of the Cliff Badge. Please take it."

Aurora looked with a smile at her Cliff badge and took it gingerly from Grant. Shuppet had wedged himself between her arms and started to inspect the shiny metal object Aurora held in her hands.

"Thank you, Grant. It was an honor to fight you." Like her father and uncle Wulfric had taught her, she gave a short bow to Grant, who on his end nodded to the copper redhead girl. Suddenly she noticed that her Shuppet was trying to get closer to the badge in her hands.

"Look Shuppet, we won the Cliff Badge!" Aurora grinned at the Shuppet in between her arms.

After briefly admiring her newly won badge, she put it away in the badge case. Turning to Vivian, Aurora spoke.

"If we want to get to Geosenge Town in two weeks, we have to leave today, Vivian."

The girl spoken to nodded her head as her Swablu decided to perch on Vivian's head. The Swablu gave a small coo before it went to sleep.

"Oi, Swablu get off my head; you'll mess up my hair!" Swablu just lifted one eyelid in response to Vivian. Aurora and Grant started laughing at Swablu's reaction. Aurora just barely managed to say something.

"Izz, you are…pft…covered in dust and you worry about …hehe, about Swablu messing up your hair?" Vivian had to give it to Aurora; she had a point. She then just sighed and let Swablu stay on her head.

* * *

The two girls left after a few moments with a few parting words from Grant.

As they were walking through Cyllage City, Aurora was thinking about the words that Grant had said when they left.

"Aurora, no matter how strong your bond is with Shuppet, you would probably do well to catch some other Pokémon. You cannot rely on just one Pokémon to get you through a fight."

'I know I can't rely on Shuppet alone, but somehow the Pokémon I meet just don't feel right. They are great but… They don't feel like they are the right Pokémon for me. Vivian has found a Flabébé and an Azurill. She absolutely adores them, but what about..'

"AURORA!" Aurora jumped in the air in shock , managed to lose her balance and to fall on her butt once again. Her Shuppet floated around her in concern, but Aurora waved the ghost off.

"I'm okay Shuppet, Vivian scared me a little, that is all." Her Shuppet turned to glare at Vivian, however, he was yanked back to Aurora with high speed.

"Shupp, I love you to death, but please let me defend myself once in a while. Okay?" Aurora spoke to Shuppet with a little annoyance in her voice. Shuppet made a little noise of discomfort, but Aurora held steadfast. After struggling to try and get out of his trainer's grasp, he noticed it wasn't working and he gave up. Shuppet nodded to Aurora to show he had gotten the message. She stared a little longer into Shuppet's blue eyes. She found what she was looking for in his eyes and then let him go.

Aurora then rounded on Vivian who was standing there with a smug smile on her face. Swablu wisely took off from Vivian's head, knowing what was coming.

"And you, wipe that stupid smile of your face! Scaring me like that isn't funny at all!" Vivian was quite amused still by Aurora's antics. But before Vivian could say something Aurora had already cut her off.

"You know I don't like to be startled like that! I always lose my balance and fall over." Aurora trailed off after revealing that embarrassing little tidbit. Vivian had to stifle a snicker.

"Vivian, it is not funny!" Aurora was finishing up her small rant about being startled by Vivian.

"Aurora, you were about to walk in the river. And you wouldn't listen to me when I called you." Aurora grew pale when she heard that she had almost walked into the river between Cyllage and Route 10.

Aurora laughed sheepishly and rubbed the back of her head. After this, she shuffled a few feet to the right and while pretending that the whole incident hadn't happened, walked onto the bridge. Shuppet just followed his beloved trainer. Vivian, by this time, was laughing outright while the yellow Swablu had once again perched back on Vivian's head.

"Comfy, up there?" She asked, receiving a pleased coo in return.

* * *

Once the evening fell, the two female trainers decided to stop for the night. The girls had found a small clearing in the midst of yellow flowers just off the road, in which they quickly set up camp.

Vivian released her Azurill and Flabébé from their Poké Balls. At once the Polka Dot Pokémon started to jump up and down in an attempt to get Vivian to pick her up, while the Flabébé set off to explore around, sniffing the flowers whenever she came across one. Vivian picked up the little Azurill with the practiced ease of a nurse and cuddled the blue mouse.

Aurora gave a happy murmur when she placed her brown backpack on the ground. 'This backpack keeps getting heavier and heavier.' Aurora thought. She then noticed that Shuppet and Swablu were starting to play fight out of boredom. So she quickly zipped the main compartment of her backpack open and dug around in her backpack to get the berry case she had gotten from her mother. The case was a one of a kind item. The case was a soft green color with lilies painted on the side, with a darker green strap going over the case. The box was handmade by Aurora's mother, much like the first aid kit that Vivian had gotten from her own mother.

As Vivian laid out a blanket with one hand so she wouldn't have to sit on the grass, Aurora only reaction was to shake her head at Vivian and just sat on the grass with a rock at her back. The berry case was opened and Shuppet and Swablu raced towards Aurora to get a berry from her. Vivian laughed softly still holding Azurill and gently reprimanded their two starter Pokémon.

"Oh, you two. You have to wait until everyone is ready to eat." Azurill gave squeak out of happiness when Vivian squeezed her softly.

Only then Vivian noticed that Flabébé had run off to sniff the flowers.

"Sheesh, why can't Flabébé stay around instead of flying off every single time? " Vivian hung her head in frustration. Aurora placed the berry case down next to her and stood up.

"I'll go looking for Bébé, Viv. I've placed the berry case by the rock. Just get Azurill to eat something without making a mess for once. Are you coming, Shupp?" The Shuppet nodded and they walked away before Vivian could retort to Aurora.

Aurora and Shuppet found the Flabébé in the midst of a flower patch a little away from the clearing in which they had set up for lunch. Not that the Flabébé was exactly hard to find within a patch of yellow flowers since the little sprite had a red flower.

"Flabébé!" The tiny Pokémon twirled around on her red flower to face her Trainer's friend. Aurora looked down on the Single Bloom Pokémon, who was gesturing wildly to a blue flower that was standing in the middle of the yellow flowers. Aurora squatted down to the same level as that Flabébé was floating.

"You want to give that flower to Vivian, Flabébé?" The tiny Pokémon nodded her head to the redhead in front of her.

"Is that why you are late?" Aurora asked while she carefully plucked the small blue flower and gave it to Flabébé. The little sprite seemed quite embarrassed by it, but took the offered flower in her hand.

"Don't worry about it Bébé, but tell us next time you want to look at the flowers. Vivian and I get worried otherwise." Aurora gave a smile to the sprite. Shuppet floated next to Flabébé, as they went back to camp.

* * *

As soon as the trio reached the camp, Vivian jumped up and rushed the small distance to Flabébé.

"Flabébé, I was so worried something had happened to you!" Vivian crushed the fairy to her chest almost crushing the tiny Pokémon to death. After hearing the Single Bloom Pokémon protesting the lack of air she was getting, Vivian released Flabébé and started to inspect the Pokémon for wounds. The Flabébé was acting shy, before she suddenly thrust the flower she was holding, towards Vivian. The girl stopped inspecting Flabébé at once and gasped at seeing the small blue flower.

"You got this for me, Flabébé?" The Pokémon just nodded and looked away, still shy even after having traveled some time together. Vivian once again crushed the sprite in a death grip to her chest, squealing about how adorable the flower Pokémon was.

"Hi Aurora. Thank you for finding BéBé." Aurora grumbled good-naturedly about the lack of a greeting she had gotten from Vivian.

"What am I, chopped liver?" Aurora plopped down by her rock in a most un-lady-like manner, huffing about Vivian's lack of manner. When she reached for her berry case to grab a berry for Flabébé, Aurora's hand met nothing but grass. Aurora turned her head almost in a mechanical way towards the spot she had placed the berry case earlier before she had gone to look for the small fairy Pokémon. Shuppet could see the look of absolute horror appear on his Trainer's face.

She jumped up at once and started searching for the missing berry case. She was growing frantic at the thought of it disappearing altogether.

"Vivian, have you seen my berry case. It is not where I left it!" Vivian could only shake her head in a negative answer.

"I'm sorry, Aurora, but Azurill was demanding all my attention. Are you sure you didn't just put it back in your pack?" Vivian tried to be helpful but this information only served to make Aurora even more frustrated.

* * *

Shuppet had seen his Human panicking about the box that held the sweet, sweet treats of deliciousness and started searching for it hoping for another treat from the box.

Suddenly Shuppet heard something rustling in the bushes, a little way from the main camp. He approached the rustling bush with slow and careful movements making his way through the bush. Still half hidden in the undergrowth Shuppet found what he was looking for, surrounded by a Snubbull, an Emolga, and an Eevee. The three were still trying to open up the box that they had stolen from his Human and it didn't seem like they were going to get it to open anytime soon.

Shuppet rushed back to his Human and started poking her in the side to get her attention. Aurora tried swatting at Shuppet to make him stop, but Shuppet was persistent in his quest to get his Trainer to pay attention to him.

"What is it, Shupp?" Aurora was still annoyed but was making an effort to not take it out on Shuppet, seeing as he was with her when she went to search for Flabébé and thus was not to blame.

The ghost, happy that he had her attention, floated a little bit away while keeping looking back at her, making it seem as if he wanted her to follow her. Aurora shrugged and walked after Shuppet to see what exactly he wanted from her.

Soon Shuppet was back at the bush where he had seen the box full of treats with the Pokémon who had taken it. Her turned to his Trainer and beckoned her to get in the bush. She seemed not to know what to make of it, so Shuppet took matters in his own hands and he pushed her into the bush.

Aurora stumbled through the bush to the other side. The Snubbull and Emolga jumped back in surprise when suddenly a Human fell through the barrier. The Eevee was completely concentrated on the box and didn't notice Aurora fall through the barrier. Only when Aurora spoke, did the Eevee look up from his task of opening the box.

"You found my berry case, Shuppet. Good job!" Aurora was happy to have gotten her case back, but didn't, at all, like the fact that some Pokémon had taken it.

"You know that that thing doesn't belong to you, don't you guys?" Aurora hissed at the trio of thieves that were standing protectively around the berry case. The Snubbull and Emolga looked at each other and made a run for it while the Eevee was still standing in front of the box.

"Eevee eve!" The Eevee heard the other two leave and started yipping at their cowardice.

"It sucks when things don't go according to plan. Right, little one?" Aurora hadn't finished her hissy fit yet when she addressed the now lone thief. The Eevee didn't react to her hiss and just readied himself for an inevitable battle for the Berry treasure.

"So you want a fight, huh?" Aurora's face slowly changed into a grinning one.

"Alright then, you got one! Shuppet, ready?"

"SHUPP!" Shuppet floated in front of his Trainer, his eyes firmly fixed upon his opponent. The Eevee crouched down into his own fighting stance. Aurora was very pleased to see that this Eevee had a proper backbone. The world seemed quiet for a moment. You could hear the wind rustling through the leaves of the bushes and the trees.

"Shuppet, use Knock Off!" Aurora's voice cut through the silence and at once Shuppet raced off to the Eevee. The Eevee hadn't expected the Shuppet to be so fast and was hit by the Knock Off hard. The hit was strong enough to shove the Eevee back a little.

The Eevee then swiftly retaliated with a Quick Attack. Aurora grinned knowing that Normal-Type Attacks don't work on Ghost-Type Pokémon, but when the Eevee had almost reached Shuppet, he quickly switched his attack into a Bite, getting in a super-effective hit on Shuppet, while shoving the ghost further away from the berry case.

"Shuppet, get him off and use Shadow Sneak to get away!" Aurora hadn't seen a wild Pokémon use her favorite tactic before and knew she would have to finish this quicker than she had expected.

Shuppet had shoved the Eevee off in a rush and used Shadow sneak to melt into the shadows to get away. Once he was at a safe distance, he looked at the Eevee with an evil look in his eyes. No one would make a fool out of him in front of his Trainer.

Meanwhile Aurora figured out a plan to win and rapidly put it into action.

"Shuppet, use Shadow Sneak into a Feint Attack!" Shuppet curled his mouth into an evil smile. As he melted into the shadows again the Eevee looked around frantically to find his ghostly opponent. Unfortunately for him, the Eevee was hit hard in the back with the Feint Attack after Shuppet appeared right behind him. The Eevee rolled away from the force of the attack and tried its absolute hardest to get back up on its four, shaking paws.

Aurora admired the determination of the little fox and came to the decision that she wanted to catch the brown fur ball. Seeing the Pokémon struggle getting up, she grabbed a Poké Ball of her belt and enlarged it. The Eevee saw this happening and stilled his movements, looking with wide, hopeful eyes at the Trainer that had commanded the Ghost. Did she really wanted to catch him?

That question was answered when the red-and-white ball came flying to him. The Eevee seemed to smile when it was sucked in the Poké Ball in a red light. Aurora could only stand there and watch with bated breath if the capture would hold. Once, twice and then a third time the ball shook, before giving a small ping and then laid still.

Aurora rushed up to the ball and released the Eevee back to the world outside. The small fox was still unsteady on his feet but didn't have to worry about it for long. Aurora scooped him up and cuddled him.

"We are going to be your new friends, Eevee. I'm Aurora and this is Shuppet. Welcome to the team."

Hearing his now Trainer's soothing words the Eevee felt happy and safe, falling asleep in his new Trainer's arms, exhausted from the fight. Aurora and Shuppet just had to smile at the puff ball. As Aurora grabbed her berry case and walked back to the camp, she couldn't help but think:

'This is the start of a something new, something epic.'


	3. Caught Feebas

Disclaimer: I do not own Pokemon, only the OCs in this chapter.

Aurora goes on a fishing trip, meets new friends and catches a Pokémon with a Rod!

* * *

 **Rocking Dumb Fish, Caught Feebas!**

A cave. A dirty cave. A dirty cave with dripping water and an underground lake. A fricking dark, dirty cave with a murky, underground lake and a fishing pole. That was where a fifteen-year-old Aurora was at, on one of the most beautiful days in Sinnoh. She cursed the ones who came up with this incredible idea of going underground on a beautiful summer day. Summer days with good weather in Sinnoh were incredibly rare. Summers in Sinnoh were always short and rainy on the average day, so why had they decided to go underground on this day of all possible days? She could be traveling to Eterna City while the sun was shining.

Of course, Aurora had herself to thank for being here in the first place. The reason she was here in the dirty, underground cave was because of the Hearthome City Tag Battle Tournament.

* * *

She had battled against Fantina, the Gym Leader of Hearthome City, for the Relic Badge and won with Banette almost falling over. As soon as she checked her wallet afterward to buy supplies for her traveling, she had been shocked to see that she was short on cash. She had sulked all the way back to the Pokémon Center, where something stuck on the sliding door of the Pokémon Center caught her eye:

A flyer announcing the Tag Battle Tournament, which would be held two days later in the big stadium next to the contest hall. The prize for the Tag Team that won the Tournament? Six months' supply of Pokémon food for a full team of six and a cash prize of 200.000 Poké Dollar per member of the Tag Team. Second place was not too shabby either, 150.000 Poké Dollar per member and a surprise outing from the Pokémon Fan Club.

Aurora had registered herself immediately and two days later she met her Tag partner, an older man who had a lot of experience in battling with a Tag partner. A combination of her Banette and his Mismagius proved to be very good; they advanced to the finals with little trouble.

Unfortunately, they faced a team of an Altaria and a Lopunny with the move Foresight in the finals. The Lopunny proved to be an extreme hinder to the usual strategy that Aurora employed with Banette as the bunny Pokémon was immune to Ghost-type attacks, so Aurora employed her paralyzing strategy and used Feint Attack to make the last hit.

The battle was extremely close as Aurora and Banette forced a double K.O. with the Lopunny, taking both of the Pokémon out of the equation. The older man and Mismagius fought their hardest but just came short. The Altaria and the Mismagius clashed and the Altaria had used Mirror Move to shoot a Power Gem back at the Ghost-type Pokémon. Mismagius went down, and Aurora and her partner came second.

After the award ceremony, Aurora was informed that her partner would opt out of the surprise outing as he had to head back to Canalave City to catch the Ferry back to Kanto. So Aurora went to the Pokémon Fan club on her own two days after the Tournament was concluded.

* * *

The Club was great fun as Aurora met a lot of people from all over Sinnoh. Some of them were experienced travelers or coordinators with a lot of ribbons under their belt, and others were fans of Pokémon, Breeders, and pet Pokémon owners. The chairman had been quite impressed with the strong bonds that Aurora shared with Eevee and Banette and he was surprised to hear that she didn't have any other Pokémon. She explained that she just hadn't found the right Pokémon for her, but that she knew that she would find them eventually. She just had to wait for the right time.

At that time, the members started to pack up for their little outing. Aurora, who still hadn't heard what the outing was, was dragged out of the club by two of the female members.

After being dragged forth for forty minutes, she was finally told what they were going to do: a fishing trip in Mt. Coronet. Aurora had looked with a face full of disbelief at the chairman. Surely, he was making a cruel joke. The weather had only just turned better and she was going to be stuck in Mt. Coronet on one of the loveliest days in the whole year? She felt like crying big time when he gave her a stupid mustached grin.

* * *

She sighed and started to finally pay attention to the explanation of the chairman. They would be using Old, Good, and Super Rods according to the skill level each of the Trainers had with their Pokémon. Aurora was assigned a super rod as part of her reward of the tournament. She collected her rod and left with Mara and Rose, the two women who had dragged her out of the Fan club and had stopped her from running off at the last minute when they arrived in Mt. Coronet.

Mara was talking about her travels through the Unova Region, lively describing the various different Pokémon that she had seen there. Aurora and Rose laughed at Mara's description of her time in Icirrus City. Never had the raven-haired Mara looked more like a mud monster than then and it was not just the one time that she had tripped over a root under the mud; she had fallen multiple times in the moors as she had been looking for a Tynamo. In the end, she had just given up to get back to the Pokémon Center without being splattered with mud all over her body. Her friends had been scared to death when the proper and prim Mara had gotten back from the moors, completely covered from head to toe in mud.

Rose was a coordinator that went solely for the Sinnoh Grand Festival. She never had the desire to leave Sinnoh and had many stories to tell the other two girls about her beloved region. From the meteor field in Veilstone City and its grand Department Store, and Canalave City with its amazing library full of the myths and origin stories of Sinnoh, to the tales of Celestic Town with the elders that knew even more stories, and Snowpoint City where the legendary Pokémon Regigigas was said to sleep until it was awoken by the chosen one.

Aurora told of the way Kalos operates. With its love of fashion and innovation, Kalos was on the foreground of many magazines. She told of the other things: the three rocks in the middle of Geosenge Town to the gorgeous crystal sundial in Anistar City and, of course, of Laverre City with the Fairy-Type Gym set into the big tree that grew in the town. She told Mara and Rose of her own experience with swamps. "Let just say my friend and I were caked with mud by the time we finally reached Laverre City. Never had we been so glad that showers exist."

The three girls were laughing and had a great time just telling stories of their home regions to the others and it became even more fun when they started to reel in Water Pokémon. Aurora knew the others didn't want to catch just any Pokémon, Mara had her eyes set on a Gyarados and Rose was looking to get a Barboach for her contests. But all Pokémon that they were reeling in were Magikarp. Every time it happened, the other girls would have to laugh at the dejected face of the one who had reeled in the Magikarp again. Aurora had the sneaking suspicion that it was the same Magikarp again and again who bit their lines.

"Maybe this Magikarp wants to go with one of us," Aurora offered as an explanation as she pulled out another Magikarp for the tenth time; each time it had had golden whiskers and flailed around in the same manner. She prepared to let it go again, but it started to glow in a white light. Aurora dropped the Super Rod like hot potatoes and her hand immediately went to her belt to grab Banette's Poké Ball, knowing Banette would offer the other girls more protection than Eevee could.

Mara's brown eyes sparkled; this is what she had been waiting for. As the Magikarp was evolving into a magnificent Gyarados, she pulled her own Poké Ball of her belt and released an Electabuzz, who roared in response to his Trainers excitement.

When Aurora was going to release her own Pokémon, Mara called her name. "Aurora! I will handle this big boy. Just worry about protecting yourself and Rose." Aurora gave a grin and nodded to Mara to show that she acknowledged the claim Mara was making on the Gyarados. She jumped back to stand next to Rose and still held her Poké Ball at the ready. Rose seemed unconcerned about the whole Gyarados thing as she was reeling in a Barboach, releasing Roselia to start her own battle.

Aurora was standing next to a big rock watching Rose battle a slippery Barboach with the graceful Roselia when she saw Mara and her Electabuzz walk up to Aurora's right side. Mara was laughing a little bit sheepishly when she got back to Aurora's side. "Sorry about taking your catch, Aurora. I was waiting on a Gyarados for some time now and I never managed to find one until this day so… I may have jumped the gun a little."

Aurora waved her off. "I have the first right to your next catch and then we will call it even. I never wanted a Magikarp or a Gyarados anyway." Mara agreed with the younger girl that it would be a good solution. After the lakeside was clear again from battles and Rose had caught her Barboach, the girls went back to fishing, but it seemed that the water Pokémon didn't want to be caught anymore since the lines stayed calm.

* * *

The 30-minute warning went off; the Pokémon Fan Club would pack up in 30 minutes and go home to Hearthome City. Aurora was all for packing up and going the other way; she was tired of staring at the water for prolonged periods of time. Her fishing companions thought the same way and started to pack up the given supplies.

One of the lines suddenly went off. The floater went under the water with alarming speed. Mara grabbed the Rod and started reeling the line in as fast as she possibly could. With a mighty heave she pulled on the line with all her strength, the water broke as a fish jumped out of the water: an ugly brown and gray fish with the most unintelligent eyes possible.

Mara and Rose fell on the floor, rolling in the dirt, laughing so hard that they were getting stitches in their sides. Mara choked on her own words as she addressed Aurora. "You have the f-first r-right on that t-thing."

Aurora just grinned as she recognized the Pokémon that had jumped out of the water. Oh yes, she wanted this Pokémon. A Feebas. Never had Aurora imagined that she would find one so easily. While being able to live in a fair amount of places, Feebas hid in places many people would not look for them or even think that they could live in those places. "Shine, Eevee!"

Rose and Mara stopped laughing; was Aurora serious?

Eevee materialized in a flash of light. Shaking his fur out, he quickly took note of his surroundings. A cave, no place to grip with his paws into the ground, it was darker than expected, but he could work with it. His Human was standing behind him and there was a fish in front of him. He settled into his familiar battle stance: front paws placed underneath him, slightly bended and the muscles in his hind paws were tensed and ready. He awaited his Trainer's orders.

"Eevee, use Quick Attack and then follow up with a jumping Swift!" Eevee sped up at once, paws hitting the ground with remarkable speed. Seeing his opponent flailing around, but doing nothing else Eevee decided to slam into the fish from the side away from the water in which it could escape from his wrath. Eevee slammed into the fish and send it away into a rock.

Quickly jumping in the air his tail started glowing and stars were gathering around the tip of his tail. He made a forward summersault and during the aerial maneuver he released the stars. Tens of stars left a beautiful sparkling trail as they were fired toward the brown fish. The Feebas never stood a chance and fainted.

A red blur passed Eevee and hit the Feebas on its flank. The Poké Ball sucked up the Feebas and closed. The ball shook thrice and then just gave the ping. Feebas was caught by Aurora, in record time.

Aurora grinned as she picked up the Poké Ball containing her new friend and looked at the other girls. They were staring at her as if she had grown a second head.

"You do know that Feebas evolve into a thing called Milotic?" Mara and Rose look at each other and burst out in fake tears; they hadn't known that. Milotic were a gift from Arceus himself to coordinators and were very well known for their strength and beauty.

Aurora smiled at the Poké Ball and whispered to the Ball.

"Welcome to the Team, little Feebas."


	4. Rescue Vulpix

Aurora is in Kanto on the way to Lavender Town and finds a small fox in a lot of trouble.

* * *

 **Fiery Fox, Rescue Vulpix**

Another rainy day in Kanto. Aurora Lockwood had been traveling to Lavender Town after being defeated by the Gym Leader of Saffron City. She just shook her head. Why the hell had she even attempted it? Sure, Banette had the advantage, but her other Pokémon weren't used to fighting Psychic types. Leafeon and Milotic tried their absolute hardest but had been caught in the tricks the Psychic Pokémon used. So why did she do it again? Oh right, she had made a bet.

The only reason why she had been stupid enough to challenge Sabrina was because of a bet she had made with some other Trainers. They had overheard her talking with her father about her third victory, the one over Lt. Surge. She had commented to her father that she still had no clue how she had done that. That had been the starting point that had led her to take the bet.

They had persisted that she was a weak Trainer and that her other three Gym victories had been a fluke. She was tiny in stature and was physically not the strongest, meaning she had little muscle on her frame. Another factor that had been proof of her weakness, according to those guys, was the fact that she only carried around three Pokémon. It made her an easy target to pick on.

And that was the wrong thing to do; she had fought back. Aurora heard from others that this trio of Trainers had been camping in Saffron for the longest time in order to defeat Sabrina. So she started kicking where it was hurting the most. She had started with calling them weak for losing all the time to one Gym Leader. That they couldn't expect different results if they didn't change the way they approached it.

The reason they had challenged her to the bet in the first place was because they failed to win from Sabrina. The other Trainers hadn't been able to knock out even one of Sabrina's Pokémon. The girl snorted. Of course, they wouldn't be able to win that easily. They trained fighting and poison types, for Arceus's sake. Idiots. They had been jealous of the fact that she had three badges while they had none.

The terms were simple. She would challenge Sabrina to a Gym Battle and she would have to take out at least one of her opponent's Pokémon. If she succeeded, she would get a lot of money. If she lost, she wasn't going to compete in the League challenge that year. Aurora had nothing to lose. She hadn't planned to compete in the Indigo Conference in the first place. Not that she was going to tell them that.

The fight hadn't started out that great; she started with Milotic against a Kadabra, but the aquatic snake had lost quite quickly. Aurora had marveled at the strength of the bond between Sabrina and her Pokémon. So, she had doubled her efforts in trying to communicate with her Leafeon. It had paid off when they defeated Sabrina's Kadabra after a long fight. That she had taken out the Kadabra had been more than she had expected that she would be able to do.

Leafeon had been so proud of the fact he had beaten the Pokémon that had beaten Milotic. Too bad that her grass Eeveelution had fallen shortly after the round had been called. She sighed; there was no use in dwelling on it any longer. She did like the faces that those idiots had sported when the referee had called the round in her favor. They lost roughly three months' worth of Poké Dollars to her, all together it had equaled up to around 30k. She was going to have an easy time for the next two months.

Banette walked alongside his Trainer and saw her grinning. He just shook his head. A loss was a loss, but she seemed to be happy right now.

* * *

A red blur ran through the bushes that were in the way. How could she have been that stupid? The fox had been warned time after time that she should stay away from that part of the forest and now she was being chased by the Ekans, not just one but a whole hunter pack. They had seen her as suitable prey just because she had ventured a little bit too close to the edge of the river.

Now the little Vulpix was running for her life as she was chased away from her home. The one place where she had been safe, and where she could take care of the small Pokémon who got lost. Her steps faltered as she became fatigued. Nevertheless, the red fox pushed on and her tired paws kept hitting the ground, just pushing her further away from her former home.

She ran alongside the path that the humans traveled on, but remained hidden in the bushes. No need to attract even more danger. Maybe she could find a Human who would help her.

It was already too late for that wish to come true as she felt the heavy weight of an Ekans descend upon her frame. The fox let out a harsh screech as her tired paws, which could not carry both her weight and that of the Ekans, collapsed underneath her. Due to the speed she had been running with, she slid a bit over the dirt, scraping her snout as it snagged on twigs and roots. Vulpix shook the snake off as fast as she could and turned to face the purple serpent. She was crouched, ready to leap on the Ekans, hurt it, and then run further.

The red fox tried to unleash her fiercest Ember with a loud cry, but the snake was in much better condition and avoided the attack with visible ease. Ekans reared its head and spit out a storm of Poison Stings at the poor fox, who cried out in fear. Vulpix tripped over her own feet as she tried to dodge, exhausted from the long run and was hit full in the body with the sharp needles. Too tired to move and hurting from the poison that was seeping into her wounds, the red fox laid down her head. There was nothing she could do about it now. It was over.

The Ekans lunged at her but was stopped by a gray figure that stood in front of Vulpix. She could hear hurried footsteps and the yell of a female Human. Was she saved or was the Human not fast enough before the Ekans seized the opportunity to finish her off? Would the Human capture her and take her away from all that she had known for her whole life? Vulpix didn't know what would happen and she couldn't muster up the energy to care. She felt the comforting darkness take a hold of her and she remembered nothing after that.

* * *

"Banette, did you hear that?" Aurora's head shoot up as she heard something screech in the distance.

"Bane… Banette!" Her Banette was on edge and ready to spring into action. He shuffled on his feet trying to stand still enough for him to single out the direction where the screech had come from.

"Go, Bane, I'll catch up in a minute." Aurora was already running forward, her pack heavy on her shoulders as she raced to find the source of the scream. Banette wasted no time at all and swiftly dove in the shadows of the trees, as they were connected it would make his shadow walk faster.

He found the source and became very angry. A small fox was laying on the ground and a serpent was attacking the weak Fire-type. He balled his hands. A frown appeared on his face and his mouth was pulling a grim smile. He liked to scare others, but he would never hurt the person or Pokémon he was trying to scare. This Ekans was only doing this for its own twisted fun. That wasn't right.

He jumped in front of the fox to shield her from the incoming attack. It seemed that his Trainer had caught up. She yelled out for him to use his Shadow Ball attack and he was happy to oblige her. He felt more eyes coming to rest on him as he hurled the dark ball to the offending snake.

Never the one to give up on a challenge, the ghost stayed still and charged up another Shadow Ball. Ready to let go at any moment. He saw Milotic coming out to play. His teammate quickly charged up her own attack and took a defending stance.

"Leave, Ekans!" Aurora's voice was hard and commanding. "Leave before I let my Pokémon deal with you. Don't play me for a fool and go!" Her teal eyes bore into the yellow eyes of the Ekans before her.

"I know your friends are in the bushes, now scram! Banette, Milotic, unleash your attacks!" Aurora was becoming impatient; she could see that the Pokémon on the ground needed help, and fast. So she let her temper flare and just ordered her Pokémon to deal with the Ekans.

Milotic let go of her Water Pulse and noted with satisfaction that it was a direct hit to the face. Banette fired his attack in the bushes where he suspected that there were other snakes hiding. He was rewarded with hisses and angry noises. He liked those very much.

The Ekans left, realizing they were no match for the two Pokémon protecting the stupid fox. They would have to let it go.

* * *

Vulpix woke up later in a room with things attached to her. The first living creature she saw was the gray figure that had appeared in front of her, between her and the Ekans. He waved and introduced himself. He was Banette. He was a Trainer Pokémon and the female sitting in the chair next to her resting place was his Trainer.

His Trainer, if Vulpix understood correctly, had been the one that had ordered Banette and his Teammate to chase away the Ekans and stayed by her side the whole time she had been out. Vulpix didn't know what was going to happen now. In the past she had wanted nothing more than to be left alone by the Humans, but this one had saved her. That put her into the Human's debt.

Banette sensed what she was thinking about and assured the red fox that his Trainer wasn't cruel enough to force Vulpix to come with her. The red fox just looked down, not believing the ghost at all. Every friend she had had, had left because of the Humans capturing them against their will. And now she was going to be forced to undergo the same process. The fox stared longingly out of the window. She could just about feel the slight wind in her fur as the rising sun warmed her up in the early morning. Never again would she see the trunk again where she had made her den.

It was the price she would have to pay for her life, she supposed. Vulpix felt the Human move around. The breathing hitched and the female woke up. The female stretched to get the kinks out of her body and Vulpix could hear a pop when the female stretched her arms.

Aurora had woken up after a fitful night's sleep. Nurse Joy was going to be here in another hour to check up on the Vulpix. That is, if the time was what she thought it to be. The girl looked at the Vulpix and was pleasantly surprised that she was awake. Aurora laid her arms on the bed and let her head rest on them. She was observing the cute fox.

The Vulpix looked away; she did not want to meet the girl's eyes. Aurora just smiled and started to speak softly.

"How are you feeling, girl?" She made her voice as gentle as she could possibly make it sound and waited for a response.

The Vulpix whipped her head to stare at the girl with impressive speed.

"Well, you were poisoned. So I can imagine that it could still be hurting." Aurora just talked to the fox, hoping for a positive reaction.

"You know, you could get out of here and go back home sooner than I thought."

At this, the fox widened her eyes; she could be going home? She was allowed to make the choice?

"Of course, you also could come with me. I would love to have you on the team."

Vulpix was given a choice in the matter and the Human actually wanted her. Vulpix had already given up the hope to go back home. The Ekans wouldn't waste any time to hunt her down again. Moreover, this female seemed to be genuinely kind. Banette had been standing there silently waiting and now was smiling widely.

Vulpix stood up and walked over to Aurora. The girl waited patiently and was rewarded with a lick on the forehead. She giggled at the sensation.

"You sure?"

The Vulpix just nodded.

"Well, Vulpix, welcome to the team."


	5. Hero Metang

Aurora heads to the Safari Zone in Johto after winning her fifth badge from Chuck.

* * *

 **Rescuer with Iron Claws, Hero Metang**

A girl could be seen travelling alongside the cliffs of route 47. Her copper-colored hair was thrown around wildly by the wind. She merely placed a hand on her hair to try and contain it. She tried to remember if she had a hair-tie with her and only then remembered the one in her back pocket. By the time she had pulled her reddish blond hair into a low ponytail, the wind had died down.

Aurora sighed. How much farther was this Safari Zone exactly? Chuck had said that it was around a three hour walk to the Safari Zone. She checked her X-transceiver for the time. It was around four in the afternoon right now. That meant that she had been traveling for about two hours already. About thirty minutes in the walk to the Safari Zone Aurora had had to call back her Vulpix into her Poké Ball since the fox kept straying too close to the edge and she simply wasn't going to risk her falling down.

She turned round the next corner and could almost cry out in relief. She was done with the cliffs and a bit farther up ahead there was grassland and a small river. The young Trainer let out her faithful Milotic to swim in the clear water while she made it down the last stretch.

At last, she reached the small town in front of the Zone. She had recalled her Milotic a while ago when the path had diverted from the river, but she had walked only for about ten minutes before she had seen the Pokémon Center appear in front of her.

She walked into the Center and made a beeline to the desk. Luckily for the Trainer, both Nurse Joy and Chansey were behind the desk ready to help anyone that walked through the front door. After a small talk Aurora was able to secure a room for the coming two days. The girl deposited her backpack in her room and left to scoop out the Safari Zone building.

The Safari Gate was busy with all the different Trainers coming back from their day in the actual park. Aurora decided to go upstairs to the observation deck. It was calmer here with the Trainers slowly leaving to go back to their room at the Pokémon Center. Soon the only ones left were Aurora and an older gentleman. The girl decided to use the binoculars and take her first look at the park.

She could spot some different terrains from the start. The ones that pulled her attention were the mountain, plains, and the savannah. The placement was a bit weird since a savannah usually didn't lie next to a plains and a mountain. It was one or the other, but not both.

As she pulled back, she heard the gentleman speaking to her.

"So, what do you think of the Safari Zone?" The man was grinning with a twinkle in his vivid blue eyes.

Aurora felt a small smile growing on her face. Izzy would have loved to see this. This is what she wanted for the Pokémon.

"It looks amazing. I can see the Pokémon running around freely without any fear. My best friend would think the world of this if she had seen it. And I have never seen so many species in one place!" The girl was growing more enthusiastic by the second. Tomorrow, she would be walking in the same place.

"That is good to hear!" The man held his hand out in front of him and Aurora understood the gesture. So, she grasped his hand in a firm handshake.

"I am Baoba Kaiser. I am the owner and the warden of this Safari Zone." Aurora's mouth fell open. This was the last thing she would've suspected him to actually be. That she actually met the owner of such a grand institution was a pleasant surprise.

"My name is Aurora Lockwood. I am a League Trainer who is challenging the Johto League." She recovered easily after the small surprise.

"So, from whom did you hear about the Safari Zone? We haven't been open that long." Baoba asked the young girl.

"After I beat the Cianwood Gym, Chuck advised me to visit here if I had time left before the ferry came." Aurora looked to the ground, before whispering the next part.

"Chuck advised me to take a bit of time off from training, since I looked too tired. He scolded me as if I were a small child." Baoba laughed at the childish expression the girl was making. As she told him why his good friend Chuck had recommended his beautiful new Safari Zone, she had started pouting. It really looked like she wanted to stomp the ground and throw a small fit. But then she would only prove Chuck right and she was a stubborn girl.

"He was right; you look like you could fall over any minute now." Baoba gently told the girl.

"I just traveled from Cianwood to here after my Gym Battle. Of course, I'm tired." Aurora shook her head at the man. Surely, that was obvious?

"Just take a good rest before you enter the Safari Zone. It is safe, but it is better to be alert." Aurora mauled the warning through her head. She gave a sigh and nodded. The girl knew better than to cast a warning aside.

"Alright then. I should be going back to the Pokémon Center anyway. It was nice to meet you." She gave a wave to the old man and walked back downstairs. Baoba nodded. The girl knew when to listen and when to fight. That would help her tomorrow.

* * *

Aurora was up early the next morning. After she had breakfast in the Pokémon Center, Aurora headed to the Zone gate, the girl had decided to go at the earliest possible time. This way she would be able to check out he most of the available habitats before closing time. A few of them had been closed due to breeding season and Aurora had no intention of going near that kind of stuff.

She left her Pokémon behind with the Nurse Joy at the Pokémon Center and walked towards the gate. Once there she was informed that she would have about twelve hours before the park closed but that they would like to see her at two o'clock, otherwise they had to assume that she was lost.

After giving her word, she was equipped with several Safari Balls and let into the park.

* * *

First she went to the marshes and the swamp area, just so she could see the Dratini in person. She had spotted them yesterday through the binoculars and now she would try and look at them. She arrived quickly in the swamp and settled to wait on a rock at the edge of the water. One of the Rangers was watching her and she gave him a cheeky wave, before looking back at the large swampy lake.

Her patience paid off after half an hour when the surface of the lake rippled once again. Aurora leaned forward a little but made no movement to rise from her spot. There had been many false alarms in the time she had been sitting there and she knew that Dratini were shy Pokémon.

A little head rose from the lake to take a look at the stranger. A Human was on the water's edge and it gave a small smile and it grew wider. Then the Dratini quickly ducked back under water. When it appeared safe, the small Dragon-type lurked just under the water-level and peered up again. The Human was still sitting there. The Dratini was confused. Didn't Humans want to catch him?

He slowly rose out of the water again and watched the Human with a critical eye. Still nothing. Slowly the Dratini came closer to the edge of the lake. And the Human started moving too, slowly. The female came closer to the edge and started speaking.

"You are just as pretty as I imagined." It was a soft and gentle sound, not like the other Humans that wanted to stuff him inside a stupid ball. The Dratini cooed softly before diving back under again.

Aurora stood up and stretched a bit, sitting still on a rock wasn't her favorite thing to do. After she felt loose enough again, she left for the other habitats.

She had seen so many Pokémon from Kanto, Johto, Hoenn, and even Sinnoh. It was really amazing to see so much diversity. The girl had expected to see only Johto and Kanto Pokémon, but really every of the four inner regions had been well represented in the Zone. The most exotic Pokémon that she had seen were a Masquerain, several Luxio and Shinx, and an Aron.

Aurora wandered around before she reached the plains area. She took a while just to walk and calm down from the hectic life she had been living for the past couple of months. Going from Gym to Gym as fast as you possibly could, did stress someone out. Today, she did not have to go anywhere except where she wanted to go, no training, and no annoying phone calls from her mother. She had left her X-Transceiver in the Pokémon Center.

Suddenly, a howl could be heard from close by. Aurora jumped from the loudness of the sound and stood still after that. She needed to know where the sound came from and get out. That was the howl of a Houndoom and in the wild where there is one, there are more. Besides that, it was hatching season for the canine-like Pokémon. She did not want to be found by the Houndoom on their territory. That would lead to problems. She made the split decision to go back towards the mountain area and then return to the Zone gate.

The copper-haired girl was surprised that the Rangers hadn't contained the area yet, but as long as she could get out safe than it was fine. She turned around and began walking back the path she had come from.

* * *

Meanwhile, a cocky male Trainer had entered the same area as Aurora had and he, too, recognized the howl. But he wanted a Houndoom on his team and so he strutted deeper into the Houndoom territory. Once there, he found out he had made a mistake when he reached out to grab the Poké Ball of his most trusted companion. It wasn't where it was supposed to be and he cursed loudly. That caught the attention of the Houndoom closest to him.

Now he stood up slowly, hands up and outwards. The growling Houndoom were advancing on him. Fear took over, he turned and just bolted. The Houndoom didn't waste a moment to start the chase and leaped after him.

* * *

Aurora sighed in relief when she could see the border between the mountain and the plains area. Once there she shouldn't become a target of the Houndoom pack. She stilled briefly when she heard someone scream behind her. Her heart started to beat faster. Her eyes grew big in fear. Did someone aggravate the Houndoom?

The answer to that question was yes. She could hear the Houndoom growl and snort. She would later swear up and down that she had seen the hell hound come to life before her very eyes as she took in the sight that the Dark/Fire Pokémon made. She sprinted off, no time to waste. She needed to get out of this place immediately. Sadly, the Houndoom had noticed her and a part of the pack split off to chase her. They were faster than she was and were steadily catching up.

The moment she felt one of the Houndoom run next to her, she accelerated. Just in time, since the sudden movement prevented the Pokémon from clamping his jaws around her leg.

The young girl turned her head back to see how much space there still was between her and the larger part of the pack, when she felt the ground give away. Time went into slow-motion as she realized what was happening. Sheer undulated horror. It was all she could feel at that moment. Her heart had stopped beating and never before had she felt such desperation follow the initial horror. She felt her body slid down bit by bit and then she felt a sharp pain in her leg. And then another.

Then time went back to normal and she plummeted down the shaft of a dried-out well. She felt pain in her legs and her back, before suddenly she felt her head hit something. All went black.

* * *

A groan escaped from the still figure in the well. Slowly a hand was moved to the head to try and get rid of the splitting headache she had. The action only made it hurt more. Aurora slowly opened her eyes and grimaced at the sight she was able to take in. Dark shadows and dirt. That was all. As if coaxed by the opening of her eyes, the rest of her senses started working again. She screamed loudly.

The pain coming from her legs and back, combined with her headache was enough to make the girl pass out again.

The next time she woke up, Aurora couldn't see the sun anymore above the dried well and the pain had settled for a warm throbbing feeling, with every throb it felt like needles were poked into her skin. She tried to get up and make her way out of the well, but every move she made was difficult. Her legs refused to work properly and every time she managed to pull herself up the walls would crumble underneath her hands. After twenty times, she had enough.

Aurora gave up.

Tears were falling from her teal eyes and she couldn't stop them. There was nothing she could do. All she could do was wait. She wanted to scream and curse everything under the stars. But all she did was let out the tears that were welling up in her eyes. She saw the blood seeping out of her wounds and she could feel the wounds hurt. She was becoming numb to the feeling of pain and fear took over.

It seemed that tumbling down the well had far reaching consequences for the stability of the walls. The walls of the well had always been unstable, but now it let loose small rocks that fell unto the girl lying on the floor. On occasion, a bigger rock would plummet down and it would always land close to her shivering body. One time, the rock did land on her leg, but it had been a small one. Only soft cries came out of the small girl's mouth, she had simply given up.

She had no idea how late it had been when she fell nor did she know how late it was now. It didn't really matter to the girl either way. Every second she was trapped in the well felt like an hour.

Another rock fell down, this one hitting the worst of the wounds on her leg. This one she felt. White hot pain spread though her whole body and she screamed louder than she had ever before.

The sound was heard by a passing Metang. It could not figure out where the sound exactly came from, but it felt like it was a call for help. The Iron Claw Pokémon listened closely and made out the sound of ragged breathing. It slowly floated over to the place where it knew the old well to be. It peered over the edge and to its surprise a Human was lying on the floor.

* * *

The Metang was unsure what to do. Should it let the Human lie there until the other Humans came or get her out of there itself? The choice was simple when he looked down to the floor and saw the dried blood. This Human needed help and lots of it.

The first thing was to get her out of the well without injuring the Human further. It recalled the time it had used Confusion for the first time after evolving. It had been able to lift a rock the same size of the Human and weren't Humans lighter than stone?

It was worth a try it decided and the Metang went to work.

The Human was lifted up slightly and she was lighter than it expected. A little Human then. The Metang felt the little Human put up a bit of a struggle, but it was clear she couldn't do much more than wiggle her fingers around a bit.

As soon as the little Human out of the well, the Metang placed her down on the ground as gently as he could. It hovered above her for a second to analyze her. The Steel/Psychic type nodded; this tiny Human needed help and protection. She was strong to survive the fall, but now all it could see was fear in her eyes. How would they look when there was nothing but strength in her? How was the tiny Human normally?

Metang flew off quickly to find one of the other Humans, the ones that always dressed the same. It quickly found one with a strong light and it gestured for the Human to come with it. The Human told the Metang to go away, but the Iron Claw Pokémon did not listen and picked the stubborn Human up and placed him next to Metang's tiny Human. The reaction was instant and the Human started talking in a weird thing. Another voice came out of it after the Human next to Metang was done talking.

Metang looked at his tiny Human. She was weird and he liked weird. Besides didn't the Humans say finders keepers? Well, he found this tiny human and she was his now and he would protect her. It levitated a Poké Ball of hers to his head and made it capture him.

* * *

The Ranger was shocked to have a Metang of all Pokémon lead him to the missing Trainer. She was a mess. Wounds all over her body and she was probably more than a bit dehydrated. The Ranger called for back-up. There was no way to move her by himself without hurting her more. He took a quick look around to see what could have happened and his eyes fell on the hole in the ground. Carefully, he stepped closer to it and had to jump back when the ground started to crumble. He peered over the edge and paled. Blood and it was not little of it either.

He turned around to see the Metang catch himself in a Poké Ball. It didn't use a Safari Ball but a genuine Poké Ball. When the capture was over the ball flew back to the girl lying on the ground and she somehow got a hold of it. He just shook his head; he had seen weirder things than a Metang wishing to join a Trainer that it had pulled out of a well.

* * *

Aurora woke up the next morning with Metang's Poké Ball clutched in her hands.

"Welcome to the team, my Hero."


	6. Mystery Egg

Aurora was training on Iron Island when the wild Pokémon start behaving weird. Together with Riley and Lucario, she searches for the cause.

* * *

 **A Pokémon egg? Wait, I am going to be a Mom?**

"Hey, Riley?" Aurora's voice rang through the mineshafts.

"What is it?" Riley looked back to see Aurora staring at a few Graveler that were creeping closer to her. He sighed. When would she stop attracting trouble?

"You can handle a few Graveler, right?" He asked. He was rewarded with a stare full of annoyance from his friend.

"Of course, I can! It is the Mawile and the Steelix that are behind them that will give troubles." Aurora admitted with a sheepish grin.

He gritted his teeth when he saw that she was right. Damn! How did he not sense them creeping up on them? Never mind. First things first, they needed to deal with their creepers.

Aurora laughed heartily as she released Leafeon, Vulpix, and Milotic from their Balls. He just gave another sigh and called Lucario before he let out some of his other Pokémon.

They had been in the same situation several times already, as they tried to figure out why the Pokémon were so keen on attacking the Trainers that came to train. Riley, himself, had to be saved from several Pokémon by the girl that he was now fighting side-by-side with.

She had been annoying to deal with in the last few weeks. She hadn't come into the mines al that much, but whenever she did, something just had to go wrong. More Pokémon would attack whenever she was in the mines. But they had figured out that it was just a coincidence. He had stopped her from going into the mines one day and even then the Pokémon had been attacking the Trainers. Aurora admitted to him that she had gone into the tunnels only because she had felt something was wrong. Her Pokémon were really agitated on those days and she usually had to defend one or two of the weaker Trainers from being hurt.

He had asked her to help him as she seemed to be able to hold her own. And she had proved it over and over. Systematically, the two Trainers took down their opponents as Riley thought more about the situation. It was getting more and more common for the wild Pokémon to wreak havoc. And it had to stop. He sensed an attack coming in from behind them.

"AURORA, GET DOWN!" Riley could jump out of the way, but the projectiles were too spread out for his companion to dodge the same way.

She reacted the a second after she heard his yell. She dove to the floor and then rolled over to her back to see several pieces of rock sail over her head. She sprung back up and commanded her Leafeon and Milotic to get the attacker.

Her trusty Pokémon stood in front of her within seconds and they let loose a Magical Leaf and an Ice Beam respectively.

"Vulpix! Free reign. Toast them!" Aurora yelled, to her trusty Fire-type. She couldn't watch over her fox while she was trying to gain the upper hand with her other Pokémon against several Graveler that had attacked them from behind. They were working together a little too well for the girl to be comfortable with.

Both of the Trainers realized that they had been boxed in by the attacking parties and Aurora decided to pull out the big guns.

"Razor Leaf, Flamethrower and Scald!" Aurora heard the pained cries of the opposing Pokémon and grimaced. It was them or her.

Riley sighed in relief as he saw the wild Pokémon scurry away after he had urged Lucario to send a barrage of Aura Sphere to them.

* * *

Aurora sank to the ground after she had recalled Milotic and Vulpix to the Poké Balls for a well-deserved rest. The girl felt so tired of having to be alert every second she was in the mines. These surprise attacks wore a person completely out. Not to mention that she was afraid of the smaller parts of the tunnels. She could handle the big caverns. But the closer the walls came, the more she remembered her fall in the well.

Luckily for her, if they needed to go into a smaller branch, Riley would always ask her to stay at the entrance of a tunnel. They were very easy to get lost in according to him. She never put up a protest so it worked perfectly for them. Aurora had an inkling that Riley knew that she was scared of small, dark spaces. She was grateful that he didn't bring it up.

She thought back to the battle she just fought. Those Graveler had been organized and it had taken a lot out of Milotic to drive them back. She was vaguely aware of Leafeon butting her arm with his head. The Eeveelution loved affection. Aurora petted him while she thought. The only sounds that Aurora could hear were the sounds of her breathing and the purrs from Leafeon. There was something really troubling about what had happened. This attack was too well planned. They had been boxed in so quickly and it was too sudden.

"Riley, wasn't that attack a little too well set up?" Aurora asked, her voice wavered slightly as the adrenaline left her body. She trembled as the cold air hit her face.

He looked at her with a calculating look on his face. He had been thinking the same. There was a possibility that the last batch of Pokémon was owned by Trainers, That would explain why they retreated without taking casualties. Normally, they wouldn't leave until Aurora and he knocked out, at least, three of the wild Pokémon.

"We must be getting close to the heart of the problem. Can you continue?" Riley was wary of Aurora's ability to go on farther, but she surprised him by standing up. She was tired, he could see the wariness in her eyes, but she put a brave smile and gestured for him to lead the way. He nodded and made his way to the tunnel that would lead to the last mining spot. The mines had shut down a while ago, but maybe there was a clue there.

* * *

Aurora shove her hand under her arms trying unsuccessfully to stave off the cold in her fingers. It was so cold here. The girl had never been more grateful for the warm boots on her feet and legs. She was never going to listen again to somebody that said sneakers were the way to go in Sinnoh. It was so damn cold here. Her trusty Leafeon was walking beside her. He wasn't happy, but he would protect her.

She bumped into Riley's back and lost her balance. With a soft squeak, she fell on her butt. She grumbled quietly about how familiar this was to her. But she never raised her voice above a whisper. Leafeon just nudged her and then leaped after Riley. Aurora crept to where Riley was. He was now crouched on the floor. He must have sensed something. He hadn't paid her any mind when she bumped into him either and Lucario was nowhere to be seen.

Seeing the concentration on Riley's face, she closed her eyes and listened. Voices. She started counting them. Three voices were arguing about something and there were two more that were a lot closer to where she and Riley were currently crouching. She picked up some pieces of the argument. …Blasted owner…Stupid girl…should have killed them…no more trying to scare… So they had been trying to either scare Riley and her off or kill them. She liked neither of the options and she waved to gain Riley's attention.

"What did you sense?" She whispered to him when she saw that he was completely out of his sensing-trance.

"Three figures in the middle of the room. They are agitated about something. Two auras that are a lot closer, but they were moving to the right side of the room. And I could sense several Pokémon that are walking around." Riley relayed to his friend. He hadn't heard anything, aura sensing shut off his other senses.

"They were arguing about whether or not it would be better to kill us, instead of trying to scare us off. At least, that is what I could pierce together with the bits that I heard." Aurora was trying to stay calm. She breathed out through her nose. Riley would make the call.

"We are going in. Pick two Pokémon and get the ones closed to our position. I'll take the three in the middle." Riley waited for the confirmation that she was ready. He got a nod after a few minutes and he watched her as she made her way slightly back in the tunnel to release Banette.

"Banette, can you keep an eye out and warn me if more people come in?" Banette gave her a salute and sank into the shadows.

"Good thinking." Riley made the comment as quiet as he could. He was watching the entrance to the big cavern.

Aurora had a Poké Ball in her hand. She thought for a second and then tugged on Riley's sleeve.

"Is the cave big enough for Metang?" She wasn't going to take any risks. She was going in with a fresh Pokémon and one that had a huge type-advantage. Riley nodded and two heartbeats later they stormed into the cavern.

"Lucario, Aura Sphere! Break them up!" Riley bellowed to his hidden Pokémon.

"Shine, Metang! Use Bullet Punch! Leafeon, use Magical Leaf!" Aurora shouted. Both of the Trainers stood confidently in the cave as they directed the controlled chaos around them.

Leafeon weaved through the legs of some Machoke. He tripped the Fighting-types up and then he would use Giga Drain to sap their strength away. Metang zoomed around punching the Steelix that the intruders had sent out to defend themselves from the onslaught that rained upon them.

Aurora had just called for another Bullet Punch courtesy of Metang when she gasped at seeing small, white sparks coming from the Iron Claws Pokémon. When he made contact with his target, orange, yellow, and pink meteor-shaped particles sprouted into the air.

…

The pesky girl was distracted by her Pokémon. Good.

"Graveler, use Rock Throw at the girl."

…

"Banette!" The ghost jumped to his Human. He had heard the Human in the shadows and that rotten thing wanted to hurt Banette's Human. Not on his watch.

"Banette?" His Human called out to him and he could see her eyes widen as she saw the pieces of rock coming closer to her. She sidestepped the first two but stepped right in the path of the third. It hit her leg and she cried out as she felt the impact. The impact made her shift her weight to her leg and her foot landed on a piece of loose rock. It slipped and she felt the pain set in.

Banette destroyed the last piece before it hit his Trainer. He snapped his head back to watch her. She was on sitting clutching her lower leg. They were joined by Metang and Leafeon, who had defeated the visible opponents.

"Get the last one. And could one of you get Riley for me?" Their Human hissed through her teeth. They quickly divided the jobs and went on their merry way.

Leafeon ran towards the other Human getting their Trainer the help she needed. Banette sunk back into the shadows and Metang floated in the general direction the attack had come from.

It took a few minutes before the last Human had joined the pile of intruders in the middle of the cavern. Banette and Metang got praises and a promise for some berries when they were back at the place of healing. The duo made sure that Leafeon knew what to do and they allowed themselves to be pulled back in the travel things for a good rest.

Leafeon sat next to his Trainer and watched as she was unable to get up. She tried to put her weight on her hurt leg and she just hissed at the pain, she gave up pretty quickly, knowing that she wasn't going to succeed. The male Human had told her to stay put and 'For the love of Arceus, stop being so stubborn.'

The Eeveelution thought that the male Trainer had a good point and went to lie on his Trainer's good foot. She would never kick him off. He got a scowl in return. He just lied there smugly. She huffed and decided to glare at the piece of rock she had stepped on. She reached over to grab it when she saw something reflecting the soft, flickering lights.

Riley came back from tying up the intruders to his mine. He had gotten hit by a stray attack in the arm, but it wasn't that bad. He looked at his friend. She, on the other hand, hadn't been so lucky to avoid getting hit in a vital area.

"You are very lucky that you have those sturdy boots on. That piece of rock has some sharp edges." He commented.

Aurora gave a sigh before answering.

"I still can't walk back to the entrance without help." She pouted. She hated having to ask for help.

"I am sure Lucario can help you back. I have to stay here to wait for the police. These people were digging here for evolution stones. It is illegal to do that after the Iron Mine closed down since it disturbs the Pokémon that live here. After all, it is now a sanctuary for Steel-types." Riley went on with his usual spiel about his amazing mines and Aurora cut him short to ask something.

"You mean stones like this?" Aurora held out a stone not much bigger than the palm of her hand. It shone with a dazzling light.

"Yes, like that. Where did you find this Shiny Stone?" Riley inquired.

"I may have tripped over it." Aurora looked a bit embarrassed.

"Of course, you did." All he could do was shake his head at his friend.

* * *

Aurora was sitting in the cozy lobby of the Pokémon Center of Iron Island when something was placed on her lap. She opened one eye to see Riley standing next to her.

"The crooks have been placed in the warm custody of Officer Jenny." She smiled at the thought of them getting what they deserved. She tried to shift into a comfy position when her movements were restricted by the thing on her lap.

She gave a low growl and opened both of her eyes. She saw a present. It was beautifully wrapped in soft purple wrapping paper and it even had a crooked bow on top of it.

Aurora gave Riley a stare. He just grinned in return.

The girl sat up careful not to joist her leg around too much, since every time she moved it, the throbbing pain returned. Nurse Joy had instructed her to stay put for the evening and be careful for the next two days.

The bow was tied really well and it was frustrating Aurora since it just wouldn't let go. Riley had to stifle a laugh when he saw her getting impatient.

She finally managed to undo the stupid bow and as she slid the ribbon away from the box, she couldn't help but wonder what Riley was giving her.

She removed the top. And her jaw fell open. Aurora carefully got the item out of the box and cradled it to her.

An egg. It was a Pokémon egg.

"It is a thank you for helping me get to the bottom of the problems on Iron Island. I think you will be the right Trainer for the little one that is in there." Riley laid his hand on her shoulder.

She gave a beaming smile at him, before turning back to stare at the egg.

Riley wished her a good night as he left for home. His girlfriend was waiting for an update about the situation.

She shouted a 'Goodnight' back.

"What will you be, little one?" Aurora murmured to her egg. She stared outside. The clouds were dark and it had been so cold today, maybe it would snow.

And suddenly it sank in. She looked at the Blue-and-black egg with an expression filled with wonder.

"Wait a minute, am I going to be a Mom?"

It was snowing outside, as Aurora welcomed the last member of her team.


End file.
